Boeing has reached an agreement to buy Liquid Robotics, a builder of autonomous maritime systems and developer of the Wave Glider ocean surface robot, to grow its seabed-to-space autonomous capabilities.

Leanne Caret, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space and Security, says: “With Liquid Robotics’ innovative technology and Boeing’s leading intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance solutions, we are helping our customers address maritime challenges in ways that make existing platforms smarter, missions safer and operations more efficient.”

Liquid Robotics, which makes wave and solar powered ocean robots, says its fleets of Wave Gliders have reached 1 million nautical miles at sea—an important milestone for the unmanned surface vehicle (USV) industry.

The Wave Glider is the first USV to complete missions from the Arctic to the Southern Ocean, operate through 17 hurricanes/typhoons, and achieve a Guinness World Record for the “longest journey by an autonomous, unmanned surface vehicle on the planet”.